Kristen Thiede

As CEO at First Step Project, Kristen and her team match female insurance brokers with women-owned and led companies to better source insurance at more affordable prices, as a means to raise funds and re-invest in women. As a member of the Executive Advisors Network for Columbia Technology Ventures, Kristen works with entrepreneurs and inventors at Columbia University to facilitate the transfer of research innovations from the lab to the market, as well as supporting start-up efforts.

Prior to First Step Project, Kristen was the Senior Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Strategy at Starry, a Boston- and New York-based technology company focused on re-imagining and revolutionizing how consumers access and connect to the internet. In this capacity, Thiede led the business development and corporate strategy for Starry as it built and expanded its fixed wireless broadband network nationally and globally.

She has also served as an advisor at Metamorphic Ventures, a New York City-based venture capital firm that invests in start-up and early-stage technology companies. Prior to Metamorphic Ventures, Thiede spent 14 years at Google, leading business development and content licensing for Google Fiber and early stage efforts across Google's global portfolio, including Google.org's Crisis response team to Haiti, Chile, and Pakistan, and the launch of AdSense for Content and distribution efforts globally. She holds a BA in political science from the University of the South.